(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to temporary barricades or barrier systems which may be erected and dismantled as desired or necessary. More specifically, the present invention relates to a (portable) barrier kit as well as a temporary barrier (system) erectable therefrom. A barrier system, erectable from the barrier kit, may be used for temporarily barricading dangerous areas such as elevated floor side edges, holes, openings, etc. The present invention also relates to strap-rail kits for barrier systems.
(2) Description of Related Art
A barrier system of the present invention (including a kit therefore) may by way of example be exploited in relation to building construction sites. However, a barrier system of the present invention (including a kit therefore) may be used in relation to other environmental contexts where a barrier is desired; e.g. in any area where a barricade may be sought for example to prevent entry into unauthorized or dangerous areas.
In the (building) construction industry some type of barrier or barrier system is invariably needed to prevent people as well as objects from entering a danger zone and in particular from falling from dangerous heights. Thus, for example, during the construction of a multi-floor building, it is common to first put in place the floors, ceilings and intermediate support pillars or posts interconnecting the floors and ceilings; stairwells, elevator shafts, etc. are also put in place. Thereafter the outer and inner side walls for the floors are put in place. However, the period during which floor sidewalls are not yet in place represents a particularly dangerous time, since there is an ever present risk that people may accidentally pass over unguarded floor side edges or through floor openings and fall to their injury or even death. There is also an ever present risk that objects may also accidentally pass (e.g. be kicked) over unguarded floor side edges or through floor openings and fall below risking injury or even death to unwary persons below.
Barriers are known which comprise some type of rigid fencing (e.g. rigid rails) components. The various components of such known rigid barriers are relatively heavy and bulky. Such known types of rigid barriers thus present transportation and storage challenges as well as challenges related to the erection and removal thereof with respect to a given worksite. For example, since the rigid components of such known rigid barriers are heavy and bulky there is a significant storage space requirement as well as transportation requirement (i.e. to and from a worksite). Examples of rigid barriers with rigid rail members may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,015,139; 6,336,623; and 7,338,033.
Barriers are also known which comprise some type of flexible fencing (e.g. flexible rail) components. Examples of barriers with flexible rail members may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,405 (strap rail); U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,819 (cable rail); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,623 (cable rail).
Barriers are further known which comprise some type of flexible fencing (e.g. rail) components which include means for subjecting the flexible rail component to tension. Examples of barriers with tensioned flexible rail members may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 406,642; 997,725; and 6,053,281.
A portable barricade is in particular disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/656,886 published under US 20080173854. The portable barricade of this U.S. application has a plurality of horizontally extending straps. The horizontally extending straps are attached to the provided support poles. The horizontally extending straps may be set to a desired tension between terminal support poles by a disclosed tension producing ratchet device(s). The barricade also has a plurality of vertical straps which are disposed between and interconnect the horizontal straps.
However, a problem with respect to known barriers or barricades having strap-rail members (i.e. flexible elongated members) is that (even under tension) such a strap-rail member in the region spanning between terminal structural support members may undesirably sag or more significantly be displaced downwardly under the weight of a person or heavy object. Such downward displacement can effectively defeat the barrier function of the strap-rail member and lead to undesired injury, spill over, etc. It would be advantageous to have a barrier system which could attenuate or avoid such intermediate sagging of the strap-rail member.
A further problem with respect to known barriers is that rail support structures are provided by the barrier system itself. It would be advantageous to be able to have a barrier system that may, for example, be able to exploit support structures which are presently available (i.e. on site) for use as rail support structures and in particular as terminal anchor element(s). The support structures available on site may, for example, be structures such as columns, pillars, posts or the like (and, as the case may be, walls as well).